


A Leader is Respected

by RollanWasHere



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Black Paladin Lance (Voltron), Black Paladin!Lance, Black paladin! Lance, BlackPaladin!Lance, Coran is the weird uncle, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Gen, Hunk (Voltron) is so Pure, Klance if you squint, Lance (Voltron) Has Anxiety, Lance deserves a little respect guys, Panic Attacks, Shallura if you squint, allura is only a touch salty, angry lance, big brother lance, he's the precious, lance actually does have a panic attack. Twice., mentions of Hunk having problems with panic attacks in the past :(, no one likes to talk about shiro
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-17
Updated: 2017-07-02
Packaged: 2018-10-06 12:48:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 16,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10335068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RollanWasHere/pseuds/RollanWasHere
Summary: Lance has recently been chosen by Black to be the new black paladin until Shiro returns. His team does not respect him.His feelings are hurt by that.They're supposed to be a space family.





	1. Actions Speak Louder Than Words

**Author's Note:**

> I DON'T ARGUE VERY OFTEN SO I'M SORRY IF THIS IS TOTAL SHIT BUT HEY, AT LEAST I TRIED. :D
> 
> I really liked both the idea of Lance not getting angry very often and the idea that he had to earn the respect from his teammates. He might be a bit ooc but I'm trying...

Lance was used to his team not listening to him. He was totally used to it. The only person the others ever really listened to were people who commanded respect and had experience, like Allura or Shiro. Shiro was a senior officer, a superior who always seemed to know what to do in a difficult situation. Allura was a princess, literally raised to be a queen, a ruler of an entire kingdom. Lance neither commanded respect or had experience, but the blatant disregard for his position as the leader now that Shiro was missing was starting to piss him off just a tiny bit.

Lance was both a younger brother and an older brother. All of his older siblings were out of the house already, so he was the oldest in the household besides his mom. His mother worked late most nights, so he was often the one left taking care of the younger ones. He knew how to handle his siblings when wouldn’t listen to him, but this wasn’t his family. This was his team. A team that didn’t even act like a team half the time.

The only one who even considered what he had to say was Hunk, but it’s always been like that. It wasn’t much of a change from normal. It was the other’s who didn’t even care about what he had to say. Often when the missions were out, Allura was the one who gave orders, before he’d even opened his mouth to say something. 

When Shiro was the leader, Allura would call him down early to give a full run-through of what the problem was, then Shiro would tell the rest of the team a quick briefing of the important things and give them their orders. Now that Lance was the black paladin, Allura gave them a brief run-through and gave them orders. Lance couldn’t disagree. The orders she gave were usually the ones he would have given and if not, had he said something, they would have argued. Arguing with Allura was never a good idea. 

The fact that she had barely recognized him as the blue paladin, forget being the black paladin, hurt. Then again, when he was the blue paladin, he didn’t have much to worry about. She was grieving. Lance understood that, (he really did) they all were. Every single person on that ship was grieving the loss of their brother, friend, and leader but that didn’t mean she could just walk all over him. 

Lance reaching the last straw for her bullshit happened after the third time she did it. He was on the training deck, trying to fight the gladiator, when the alarms went off and Allura’s voice came over the comms.

“Paladins! We have received a distress beacon! Report to the control room immediately!” She said.

Lance called a quick “end training sequence” before rushing to throw on his armor. No matter how many times he put it on, he still couldn’t get used to seeing murky black instead of shining blue. Once he was situated in his armor, he ran down to the control room. He wasn’t the last one there. In fact, he was the third one, passed only by Keith, who had probably already been in his armor, and Allura, who had already been there and in her blue armor. 

He went and stood by the princess, and tried to ignore the sting in his heart when Keith wouldn’t look at him. It was always like that when Lance wore this armor. Lance understood it, though. It hurt to see someone else in Shiro’s armor, in his _brother’s armor_. It was like someone trying to replace your mom or something. Lance knew the feeling all too well.

After Lance came Pidge, then Hunk. Pidge stood on one side of Keith, Hunk stood on the other. When they were all gathered, Allura took a couple steps away from Lance, to stand where all could see her, and began to give the run-through. 

“The galra have invaded a planet not far from us called Xeaxus IV. They’ve enslaved the residents, the resources we have call them Kanaccapa. They are amazing smith's, able to produce any iron object by forcing the hot metal to bend to their will. It is our job to save them. Unfortunately, according to the message, the enemy galra have someone important under their supervision. A prince,” she said, voice calm and steady. Lance nodded to himself, summing up the information in his head. Save a race of metal benders without the prince getting killed. Got it. It was just like an episode of _Avatar The Last Airbender_. If a child with wind powers could do it, so could Voltron.

“Okay, s--

“Keith, you and Pidge will save the prince. Go in with the green lion’s cloak. I’ll upload a map of the castle into Pidge’s armor. Hunk, you and I will gather every single metal item we can find for the residents to bend into weapons. Lance, there’s a speaker in the castle that broadcasts all throughout the kingdom. Rally the people to fight,” Allura said, cutting Lance off. He frowned. He was about to give those exact orders. He dropped his head, crossing his arms and glaring at the ground.

She always did this. She always did his job for him. She never did it to Shiro, so why do it to him? He knew the answer. No matter how much the two voices in his head told him he was wrong, he knew. He knew it was because she thought he was useless. He couldn’t blame her, he thought it too, but it still pissed him off that she hadn’t even given him a chance to prove himself. 

“Lance?” She called. He lifted his head up, glaring at her.

“What?” He snapped. His team stared at him. He backpedaled. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to snap. What is it, princess?” She seemed to accept his half-assed apology. So did everyone else. They probably thought he was just being a drama queen, though he’d stopped doing that since he became the black paladin. He’d tried to be both a leader and comic relief, but it was too stressful. He already stayed up at nights just wondering why Black chose him, he didn’t need anything more to add to his list. No one seemed to notice, though.

“Did you get that?” She asked, looking unimpressed by him. “The battle plans?” 

Oh. 

_Oh._

She did not just call him out in front of his team. She shouldn’t be calling him out in general. He doesn’t recall doing anything stupid the past week, he’d been too busy. He bristled.

“Yes, princess,” He ground out through clenched teeth. After his answer, his team turned back to the princess. Except for Hunk, bless him, who came to stand near Lance.

“What’s up buddy?” Hunk asked, looking concerned for his friend. Lance shook his head, straightening his back. He smiled reassuringly at Hunk as Allura dismissed them. They each ran to their separate hangars. No matter how many times he saw it, just like his new armor, it was still weird walking up to Black instead of Blue. 

Black’s cockpit was different from Blue’s. For one thing, it was bigger. For another, it still smelled a bit like Shiro. For another even more obvious reason, it wasn’t blue. 

She came to life when Lance touched the stick and he smiled, hearing her voice in his head. That was another thing different from Blue. Their voices. Blue’s voice was like a soothing wave. Black’s voice was like the calming sound of the wind. It was strange, having two voices in his head rather than one. Regardless, he loved them. 

He drove Black to the planet before them and landed in an opening in the forest, Blue and Yellow already there. He felt Blue’s concern for his anger once he was in close range, but pushed her off. Just because they still had that connection didn’t mean he was still her paladin. She should be worrying about Allura. 

He stepped out of his lion and jogged to stand by Hunk. The princess was talking to a local, informing them of what was going on. 

“Hey buddy,” Lance said, clapping Hunk on the shoulder. “How’s it going?”

“I should be asking you that,” Hunk said, voice concerned. “You’re the one acting weird. You okay?”

“Yeah, of course!” Lance said, grinning widely. He wanted Allura to stop, but there was no point in getting angry about it. He just had to bring it up to her? Maybe she didn’t realize she was doing it. She was kind of a control freak. He tuned into the conversation Allura was having with the local and frowned. 

“Are you the leader?” The local asked. The locals looked strange. They looked like little lava blob monsters with metal armor. They were kind of intimidating, being literally hotter than the sun and all. Allura seemed to hesitate before smiling diplomatically. 

“Ah, yes. Something like that,” she said. 

Lance snapped. He clenched his fists, over and over again, trying to calm down. Anger never solves anything. It was alright.

….

So she did know. And she was doing it on purpose. Yeah, that’s not okay.

\-----  
The mission was successful. The galra’s grip on the Kanaccapa was destroyed. Another win for team Voltron. But that didn’t settle Lance’s anger. Throughout the entire mission, Lance fumed. He was outraged, of course he was. Allura preached and preached about _disrespect_ and then had the gall to do that to him just because he wasn’t Shiro. 

He stalked out of Black and into the changing rooms. Everyone changed in there except Allura. Allura changed by herself. Keith, Hunk, and Pidge were all there, chatting away and laughing as they got changed. Lance just walked over to an open part of one of the metal benches and took off his armor. Chest plate first, then the legs, then the arms. He took off the top part of the under armor and put his shirt on. Everyone was still talking and laughing. Once he was successfully out of his under armor and in all of his everyday clothes, he threw the suit into some locker and stomped out of the room. It was deathly quiet in there, now. He didn’t really care. 

He slammed open the door and walked out. Vaguely he heard Hunk mutter a “be right back” and then the big man was right next to him, trying to assess the situation. Lance wasn’t on the verge of tears, so he wasn’t sad or homesick. He wasn’t green so he wasn’t just sick in general. He just looked plain angry. Lance wasn’t the type to get angry often. Only when someone or something crosses a certain line he puts down. Allura crossed that line one too many times in Lance’s book.

“Lance? Buddy?” Hunk said, trying to keep up with him. “What’s up?” Lance stopped and turn to glare at his friend. 

“What’s up? What’s up?! I’m gonna rip Allura a new one, that’s _what’s up_ ,” he said, then walked away, down the corridor. Hunk didn’t follow. He knew it wasn’t Hunks fault and made a mental note to apologize to him later, once he was calmer. 

He found Allura in the control room, typing away at the computer. She was still wearing her blue paladin armor. She looked tired, like she hadn’t slept for days. She was still grieving, Lance could see that, and it softened his anger a little bit.

“Allura,” he called, softly. She glanced at him but continued to type.

“Yes, Lance?” She said, squinting at the screen. He sighed, crossing his arms. He could do this all day if he needed to. 

“Allura,” he called again, stronger this time. She frowned but didn’t look at him.

“Yes, Lance?”

“Allura.” 

“Yes?”

“Allura.”

“What?!” She yelled turning to look at him, an annoyed look on her face. “If this is one of your stupid attempts at courting--

“Allura, what’s my position here?” He asked, staring into her eyes from where he stood a bit below her. She blinked at him. He was still angry. He knew she could tell. He still wanted to yell at her, but she was the embodiment of stubborn diplomacy. It was always better to start small with her. 

“You’re a paladin of Voltron,” she said, looking confused.

“No, my exact position. What lion do I pilot? What’s my position on the team? For example, Pidge is our tech expert and pilots Green. You are our diplomatic negotiator and pilot Blue. Hunk is an engineer, a cook, an entire support system and the pilot of Yellow all rolled into one. Coran is help, always has been--lord knows we need it. Keith is the best fighter pilot I’ve ever met, seconded only by Shiro, and pilots Red. So, what’s the black paladin’s position, hmm?” Lance said, holding his hands behind his back.

“The black paladin leads the team,” she said, blinking down at him. “Of course.”

“Right!” He said, smiling at her in that way people smile when they are really really angry. “But who’s been leading the team?” 

“You have--

“I have not,” Lance snapped, opening glaring at her now. “Because _someone_ always does my job for me, without even giving me a chance.”

“Lance, I...” She trailed, intelligent eyes sparking in what Lance could only describe as understanding. Of course, she couldn’t say anything. He tightened his grip on his hand.

“Is it because I’m not a natural born computer geek like Pidge? Or maybe it’s because I don’t know the complicated parts of coding, like Hunk. Perhaps it’s because I’m not a natural pilot like Keith. Maybe it’s because I don’t have the same kind of experience as Shiro,” he said. He was even more pissed off by the fact that she looked shocked that he even kept up with that much. 

, Of course he knew where his team stood. It was his team for crying out loud! Even Allura knew that much and she wasn’t around them at all! She wouldn’t know that Pidge almost works herself to death every night, both trying to help the team and find Shiro _and her family_. She wouldn’t know that Keith spends all his time on the training deck, trying to distract himself from the fact that his brother is missing _again_. She wouldn’t know that Hunk stress-bakes and that’s why they have pastries every night for a side. She wouldn’t know that Lance knows that she spends all her free time looking for Shiro and that she hardly ever eats what she’s given. 

“No, No! Of course not--

“Regardless, Shiro is gone,” Lance said, clenching his fist, watching as Allura flinched. “So someone had to replace him until further notice. Until he’s found. Black happened to choose me. I didn’t want this, it wasn’t really an option, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to half-ass it. It’s my job to keep the team together, give orders, and keep everything organized. The same damn job as Shiro. And just because I don’t have the same experience or talent as the other’s doesn’t mean you can disrespect me all you like.”

Allura clamped her mouth shut.

“The final decision may lie with you, but that didn’t stop you from treating Shiro like a _leader_. All I ask for is that same kind of respect because, damn it, I’m trying my hardest here.”

Allura seemed to open up. She smiled and stood straighter. Then she walked off the tiny raised platform and hugged him tightly. Lance froze. What did this mean? Was she about to break his spine? Oh. One paladin down for Voltron. Two if you count Shiro. 

But she didn’t. She only hugged him. Then said, “I’m very sorry.” 

Lance took it. He smiled and hugged her back, silently hoping they got attacked again soon so that he could see if she really was sorry. After all, actions speak louder than words right?

\-----  
Lance stood in the kitchen, Hunk by his side. He’d originally went to find and apologize to Hunk for snapping on him the day before, but had gotten sidetracked when he smelled the delicious scent of baked cookies. 

He hopped up onto the counter, listening as Hunk explained what was in it. It sounded safe, as safe as a giant list of random alien ingredients could sound, and smelled amazing so why wouldn’t it taste delicious too? Besides, if there was one thing that Lance was positive about, it was Hunk’s cooking ability. Lance ignored the scaultrite incident, for the most part.

“So can I eat it?” Lance asked, reaching for one of the hot cookies on the tray. Hunk slapped his hand away. 

“No, you cannot,” He said, huffing. “They’re still hot and I don’t even know if it’s safe yet. I have to run some tests first.” Lance pouted. He just wanted a cookie. 

He was whining, trying to convince Hunk to let him eat the cookie when Allura walked in. She came and stood in front of Lance. One thing Lance always liked about Allura was that she stood like a diplomat. She stood like someone who knew what they were going to say because they’d practiced it for seven years or something. It was a beautiful way to stand. A weird thing to like about someone, Lance would admit, but it was interesting nonetheless. 

“Lance, if I could have some of your time,” She said. Lance looked at Hunk, who was staring at him already. Then he shrugged and made to jump off the counter, she stopped him. “You don’t have to do that. I came because we’re about to go on another mission and I want your opinion.”

Lance stared at her. Hunk stared at her. She didn’t flinch or break eye contact. Lance smiled. This was the first step. Allura’s eyes looked more open, like she’d been needing to talk to someone about battle plans. She looked less tired. Lance guessed she had been stressing herself out, trying to make the right plans and the right orders so that no one would get hurt. He could relate. 

“Sure,” he said, leaning back on his hands. “Lay it on me.”


	2. Sit Down And Shut Your Mouth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pidge is a disrespectful little shit 100% of the time and Lance is totally okay with that because it's usually not directed at him.
> 
> Family loves each other right? Family respects each other, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be some Spanish in this chapter. Keep in mind, I literally only know English. I used multiple translator sites but it could still be wrong. Feel free to tell me if there is a better way of phrasing what Lance says. 
> 
> For those who do not speak Spanish like me, there will be translations in the bottom notes. :)

Pidge was most definitely on Lance’s top three list of favorites on team Voltron. She was like a younger sibling to him. Lance treated her as such but when it came down to battle he expected her to listen to his orders, just as she did for Shiro. 

That wasn’t the case. 

Lance knew how to take care of his siblings. He knew when to approach a seething fourteen-year-old and how to comfort a girl on her monthly. (He had too many sisters. That was one of the most uncomfortable talks he’s had with Rosalie to this day.) He knew how to handle Pidge. Pidge was just like any of his other siblings. 

For the most part, Lance had a lot of patience. He could take almost anything because that was what was required of a big brother. He could handle someone yelling at him for hours, usually, it was his fault--sometimes people need to yell at someone and he was just the guy for the job. He could watch someone cry and scream into their pillow for hours if that’s what it took for them to be able to tell him what happened. He could take a beating if that was what needed to be done. (He’d done it once too, for his sister. Some dumbass was picking on her, some dumbass that was three times Lance’s size, and he got into a fight with said dumbass just to get him to leave his sister alone.) He could do anything for family. 

But the one thing, the _one thing_ he could _not_ stand was when his siblings didn’t use basic respect with him. It was basic respect to use your manners or listen when someone is speaking.

Lance raised his siblings to say “please”, “thank you”, “Excuse me”, and so on. It was part of his job, but he also taught them how to speak respectfully. He didn’t expect them to treat him like an army general, just to treat him like someone worth being respected. He didn’t expect them not to curse at him, or to yell. He didn’t expect them to always be in tip-top shape. He only expected them to respect him the way he respected them. It was a lesson they all learned the hard way. 

_“¡Dios mío, Lance! Siempre estás en el camino! ¿Por qué no me dejas solo?” shouted his little sister, Rosalie._

_Lance had just been trying to bring her dinner. She’d been eating in her room, away from the family, for about a week now. She was busy, Lance got that. He was also worried for her since she hardly ever came out of her room. Only in private would he admit that Rosalie is his favorite, they all knew it, though._

_“¿Qué?” Lance said, scowling. He held the plate in his hands tighter. “¿Por qué estás gritando en mí, Rosalie? Yo no he hecho nada a usted.”_

_“Su existencia me molesta,” was all she said._

_Lance snapped. He did a lot for her, in all honesty. He cooked for her, he cleaned for her, he was there for her when she needed. He even beat up some kid because he was picking on her. This was the thanks he got._

_“Si mi existencia es tan molesto, puede hacer su propia comida y limpiar su propio desorden,” he said, and slammed the door behind himself._

_They did not speak for four days. Lance did not cook for her, he did not clean for her. No one else did, either. He did not have to do any of the things he did, and she needed to know that. It didn’t take as long as he thought it would._

_He was sitting in his room, headphones on, listening to some dumb top forties song. There was a quiet knock on his door. If his music had been any louder he wouldn’t have heard it._

_“Come in,” he called. Usually, his family spoke Spanish around the house and to each other, but just then he didn’t exactly feel like it. He swiveled his chair around to face Rosalie, who had stepped into his room and was staring at the floor._

_“You’ve come to me now?” He asked. He wasn’t mad at her, not anymore, but he was still going to be strict with her. “What have you come to say?”_

_“Lo siento,” she whispered, wringing her hands. Lance knew she was sincere. As an angsty teen, she did not apologize often. It was always someone else’s fault. He took off his headphones and stood up to hug her._

_“Tú eres mi familia y esa es la razón por la que hago estas cosas para usted, pero yo no tengo,” He said. It was true. He did these things for the family. Family is important.  
_

Even now he has his space family. He takes care of his space family as best he can. He bugs Pidge until she snaps at him because that’s what it takes for her to realize she’s tired or hungry. He argues and fights, sometimes physically, with Keith because that’s how the angry emo boy get’s rid of his anger. He jokes with Hunk when he gets scared or worried and sits with him at night when he’s feeling homesick. He lets Allura know when one night is enough and sends her off to bed because he knows she’s going to try and work herself to death. He listens to Coran’s stories when he’s feeling homesick for Altea. He did this even before he was the black paladin, he continues to do it now. That’s what family does. 

He usually doesn’t get angry with Pidge, or with any of his team, but he did then. 

\-----  
Lance leaned against Hunk in the kitchen. It was dinner time, hallelujah. His stomach rumbled uncomfortably. He felt the rumbles of Hunk laughing at him before he actually heard it. He smiled playfully. 

“Don’t laugh at me,” Lance whined. “I’ve been working out all day! I don’t think I’ve even eaten since breakfast! I’m starving!” Hunk nodded, mixing the weird soup he made one last time. 

“I understand. You’ve been working out all day?” Hunk said, moving to get bowls out of the cupboards. 

“Yeah. Hey, Hunk,” Lance said, humming thoughtfully. “Why don’t we just, you know, let people serve themselves? Like a family does?” 

Lance’s family would sit down at dinner, serving plates and bowls and such already on the table. Then they would serve themselves, passing plates of food so it was easier to reach for other people. People who joined him for dinner often said it really felt like a close family in there. He missed doing that. Plus, it might get them to bond a bit more. 

Hunk blinked at him, then nodded in understanding. He’d joined Lance’s family for dinner on more than one occasion, so he knew. He got the right amount of bowls from the cupboard and handed them to Lance, who went and set them on the table. Then he came back in and brought the pot and set it in the middle. Lance grinned at Hunk as the yellow paladin passed him with a tray of pastries. 

Lance went and pressed a button near the door to the kitchen and flopped down into his chair. The button called the others in the castle down for dinner. Now, all he and Hunk had to do was wait. Hunk joined him at the table soon after and they talked about some weird movie they’d watched together before a test one night at the garrison. 

Keith was the first to join them. He looked refreshed, so he’d probably been flying around the castle in Red the whole day. He stared at the assortment on the table but shrugged and sat in his usual spot. When he reached for the pot, Lance slapped his hand away. (“Wait for the others! It’s only polite!”)

Then came Allura and Coran, they were looking at a holographic image of the castle, probably discussing repairs that needed to be made. They looked at the setup, at the three paladins in the room, each other, and then finally sat down. The same thing happened to Allura that happened to Keith when she reached for the pot, though this time he got glared at. (“I know you’re a princess but please wait for the others. Where we come from, these are basic manners.”)

Knowing that Pidge wasn’t going to eat unless he bugged her about it, he went and pressed the comm near the door.

“Pidgeon,” Lance sang. “If you don’t come down now and eat with the rest of us, we’re going to eat without you!~”

After a few moments of silence, there was a small being in the doorway, typing away on her computer. Knowing he was probably going to get bit, he snatched up Pidge’s computer and held it above his head. Her eyes snapped up to his, tired and angry. He ruffled her hair, ignoring the squawk of protest from the shorter teen.

“I know you need a computer in order to breathe properly, but we are going to eat and I would appreciate it if you would talk with the rest of us,” He said. “Your computer will be there when you’re done.” 

Pidge glared at him, but stomped to the table nonetheless and sat down in her seat. Lance hummed in appreciation before going back to his seat and putting the computer under his chair. 

“Can we eat now?” Keith groaned, leaning back in his chair. 

“Yeah,” Lance said. “Everyone is here, aren’t they?”

Boy, did that start a ruckus. The good kind of ruckus, where people laugh and tease each other. Plates were passed and bowls were filled. They sang praises to Hunk for his gift of cooking. It felt familiar. It felt like family.

Then, about halfway through the dinner, Pidge slammed her spoon down on the table and stood up. The table turned to look at her. She held their hand out towards Lance, glaring at him,

“Computer. Now.” She ordered, making grabby motions with her hands. Lance stared blankly at her in response. In the corner of his eye, he saw Hunk give him a worried look. Hunk knew how Lance treated his siblings, what he would take and what he wouldn’t. With any of his other siblings, he would have chastised them.

But this wasn’t his family. It was a team that didn’t even act like a team half the time. So instead of ripping into Pidge like his “older brother senses” told him to, he just smiled and reached under his chair. He handed it to her and hoped no one saw the way his eye twitched when Pidge snatched it out of his hands and ran out of the room without excusing themselves.

It wasn’t like disrespect wasn’t common for Pidge, it just usually wasn’t directed at him.  
\-----

Lance strutted onto the training deck, smiling when he saw that everyone was there. Less than a minute ago, he had called for everyone to meet on the training deck for some trust exercises. He really hadn’t expected them all to get there just because he said so, but he knew that they needed to do more of these. His smiled dropped when he realized Pidge wasn’t there, but it was all in due time. 

“Look alive, team!!” He said, grinning widely again. He ignored the way Keith groaned. “Let’s play some games!” 

“I’m sorry but-- games?” Allura asked, looking confused. “Are we not here to do the trust exercises Coran and I showed you?”

“Well,” Lance said. “We are going to do trust exercises, but they aren’t the ones you showed us. These are trust games from Earth, made to help build trust between people in a _safe_ way. The first one will be the trust fall--Keith, I see you. Don’t complain.”

Keith blinked at him and snapped his mouth closed. Lance knew the face Keith made when he was about to complain. 

“I’m sorry,” Allura said again, looking even more lost than before. “Trust fall?”

“Yeah! It’s a trust exercise on Earth where one person stands in front of the other and the one in front falls backward so that the one in the back can catch them. It sounds really easy, that’s because it is, but with people who don’t get along, it’s a lot harder than it should be.”

Allura still looked confused, but she nodded anyway. Pride swelled in Lance’s chest at the fact that she trusted him enough to just take his word for it. Lance looked around.

“Where’s Pidge?” He asked, hands on his hips. 

“She, uh,” Hunk said. “She said that they would be up in a minute but I think she got sidetracked again…”

“So basically,” Lance said, clicking his tongue. “She decided to ignore my orders?” Hunk went to protest but sighed, resigned. Pidge brought this upon herself.

“Yeah, yeah. That’s what happened. She said, and I quote, ‘Lance and his trust exercises can suck my non-existant dick.’ And I honestly didn’t know what to say to that so I just left,” Hunk said, rubbing the back of his neck. Lance rolled his eyes. He was going to have a word with Pidge later, but for now, this was what he was doing and he had to focus on it. 

“Alrighty, I’ll be going around and doing the trust fall with you at random points. Allura, Coran, your partners will explain this to you in a better way than I did. Hunk, you go with the princess. Coran, you go with Keith,” Lance said, smiling again. Hunk gave him a skeptical look but other than that, no complaints reached his ears.

He watched as the Altean’s pairs up with their partners and smiled as Hunk and Keith awkwardly tried to explain it again. Coran seemed to get it rather quickly and opened his arms. Keith sighed and turned around, almost immediately falling backward so Coran could catch him. Lance was proud of him for that. Keith was the type of person to not trust anyone, so the fact that he could do it without hesitation with them was a good thing. Allura had to have an example, so Lance jogged over and did it quickly with Hunk. Then he joked about how Allura could probably catch Hunk and felt his jaw drop to the floor when she actually did. She didn’t stumble or anything. Just another reminder of how strong the princess is.

After watching the pairs switch back and forth a couple times, he interjected them and did it with everyone. He fell back without hesitation on all of them, and in turn, they each did the same for him. It brightened his day, that’s for sure. 

Once that was over and done with, they did a three-legged race. He found something that looked like rope, except it was blue, in a storage closet and used that to tie their ankles. The princess went with Keith and Coran went with Hunk. Then they switched partners, one of them sitting out each time until everyone had gone with everyone. Lance was sure they all tripped at least twice. It was fun, though, and got them laughing, so it was a success in Lance’s book.

After that one, they did a blindfolded guide game, He just used some random cloth he found in the kitchen as a blindfold and a couple chairs and small tables as the obstacles. There was going to be some bruises to ice, later, with how much they bumped into the “obstacles” and walls. 

Finally, after that, they played Truth or Dare. Truth or Dare is more of a game you played when you were with your friend's sleepover party when you were ten or drunk at a friends twenty-first, but Lance recalled making friends with Hunk through Truth or Dare so he decided to go with it anyway.

They dares made them do some crazy things. They made Allura eat one of the hottest peppers to ever exist in the castle's kitchen and laughed as she hopped around with tears in her eyes. They made Keith prance around the room in his underwear screaming the ‘barbie girl’ song. The altean’s didn’t know what the song was about but they still laughed. They made Lance try and balance four bowls of food goo on his head without dropping them. He failed, but it was funny enough to watch him struggle. They made Coran sing an opera, which he was surprisingly good at. 

Then came the truths. Man, they’ve all done some wacky shit. Hunk admitted to threatening to cut his mother’s plants because she wouldn’t order a pizza for dinner. Keith admitted that he snuck into one of his foster parent’s kitchens at night and got drunk for the first time on a bottle of tequila he found. Lance admitted to trashing his sister's makeup cabinet when he was thirteen because he found a makeup tutorial on YouTube that showed him how to turn himself into a sexy avocado. Allura admitted to dying her hair black when she was a teenager. (Emo phase Allura is something Lance never knew he needed in his life until then,) Coran admitted to gluing his pet nortashes (apparently something like a fish) together when he was six.

By the time everyone but Lance was out of the room and he was cleaning up, Pidge still hadn’t shown. He knew she wouldn’t have, but there had still been a little bit of hope.

\-----  
Lance rapped his fist against Pidge’s door. He’d reached his limit with Pidge before the trust games even began, but he’s not the type to call someone out in front of a crowd. The door slid open to reveal a tired looking midget, cup of coffee in her hands. Allura and Coran had shown them an altean version of something equivalent to earth coffee. They just called it coffee ‘cause it was easier. 

“Whadda ya want?” Pidge asked, pushing her glasses further up her nose.

“We need to talk,” He said. “Can I come in?” 

“Yeah,” she said, moving out of the way. “Watch your step.” 

Pidge’s room was something Lance was used to seeing. He was used to the total darkness. He was used to seeing a whole bunch of metal parts and scraps and a computer sitting on the floor. He was used to seeing a completely made bed. Lance knew Pidge was a slob, so she’d probably been sleeping on the floor again and not just making her bed every time they got up. He sat on the bed and leaned back on his hands, making sure to keep his body language open and inviting. It did no good to be closed off. 

“So,” he said. “You skipped team bonding exercises.” He knew Pidge wasn’t the type to like beating around the bush. He kept track of these kinds of things. Pidge glanced at him with a slight look of annoyance on her face.

“Yeah,” She said, settling down in front of their computer. “What about it?”

“I asked you to come,” he said simply. 

“So?” She said like it didn’t matter that they hadn’t followed a request that was more of an order. This is what pissed Lance off. Pidge would have rushed to the training deck to do the bonding exercises, even if she still complained a lot, had Shiro been the one to ask. So why was it different for Lance?

“If I ask you to do something I expect you to do it. Especially if it involves the whole team. You’re apart of this team too,” he said, staring at Pidge. It was a familiar conversation. He’s had the same one with his siblings more times than he can count. Except he said familia instead of the team. Usually, they just nod their head in understanding and roll their eyes. He knew Pidge was going to be difficult about it. 

Pidge’s eyes snapped up from where they were staring at the computer screen and glared at him. He stared blankly back. 

“You’re not my mom,” She said, snarling at him.

“No,” he agreed, nodding, “but I am the black paladin. Which kind of makes me the leader. You would have come if it were Shiro who called. So why not come when I do it?”

In all honesty, he probably could have phrased that better. It was too late to go back and fix it, so he just accepted the rage he saw building in Pidge’s eyes. He took notice of the bags under her eyes. He was going to argue with a tired and angry pigeon. Amazing. 

“You are _not_ my father or Shiro. You’re just some crappy pilot and an even more shitty paladin. _Stop trying to boss me around!_ ” She yelled, slamming her computer closed and standing up. Lance blinked at her.

“Ya done?” He asked, brows furrowing in anger. He clenched his teeth.

“What?” Pidge said, sarcasm thick in her voice. “You going to lecture me now?”

“Yeah,” Lance said, leaning forward towards the green paladin. “So sit down and _**shut your mouth**_.” 

Pidge stared at him, eyes wide and shocked. What did she expect? She just pulled on his main insecurity. He was going to be a little angry. Except he was angry when he got there. So he was pissed now. He was definitely going to be a little mean. 

Pidge dropped to the ground, sitting Indian style. She squeaked out a “yes, sir!” and didn’t say anything else. Lance didn’t often get angry at Pidge, he didn’t often use what his siblings called the mom voice on her, either. When he did, it was a bit startling. 

“I know I’m not your father,” He said, voice stern,” and I know damn well that I’m not Shiro. I know I’m not as strong or experienced as he is, believe me, I know. The most experience I have with leading was our team in the garrison on the flight simulator. What I do know is that a team who doesn’t trust each other can’t work together, our last trip on the simulator should be enough proof of that. If I tell the team to do something it’s probably for a good reason. I’m trying my damned to be as good as Shiro was--is. You _will_ follow my orders, just as you followed Shiro’s. Are we clear?”

Pidge didn’t say anything. She just stared down at the ground, wetness on her bottom lashes. Lance sighed. He didn’t like using that voice for a reason. He talked like his mamá when she was angry, and his mamá was terrifying. 

“ _Are we clear, Katie?_ ” 

“Yes, sir,” she said, voice just barely above a whisper. Lance smiled. Then he went and sat by her, throwing an around her shoulders and pulling her into his side. 

“Tengo dos familias,” he said, smiling when she looked up at him. Pidge had taken a Spanish class as the garrison with him. He passed, obviously, and so did Pidge. He knew she understood what he was saying. “One on Earth and one in space. Just like my family on Earth, I love and respect you.”

She smiled.

“But you must give me the same respect,” he said. “Otherwise that is not loving, that is abuse.” She nodded. Then she leaned into him, and he knew they were going to be okay. Pidge was family, even if she was a little shit most of the time. 

\-----  
Lance whistled as he walked down the corridor, a box of supplies in his hands. He had just called for another team bonding exercise. It had been about three earth days since the last one and six weeks since the first one. He figured it was high time for another one. 

He stepped through the door to the training deck, smiling when he saw his team. They were mingling. Which, in truth, had been his ultimate goal. He knew Allura was still worried about Keith being galra. She had been making efforts but he had still seen her hesitate around him. But now, she talked with him the way she talked to Coran or anyone else. Hunk was asking Coran about a new plan for the kitchen, something he usually didn’t do since Coran had some very...interesting ideas. 

“Look alive, team!” He called, gaining their attention. Four sets of eyes turned to him. He looked around the room and tilted his head, setting the box of supplies down.

“Where’s Pidge?’ He asked, genuinely confused this time. She had heard him, right? He knew it was kind of hard to hear announcements from the control room from the lion hangars. 

“I’m here, I’m here!” Pidge said from the door behind him, pushing her glasses up her nose. She was pushing against the door, looking rather frantic. Her clothes were rumpled and her shirt was inside out. She hadn’t even brushed her hair. Lance smiled at her. It was obvious she’d just gotten out of bed. He ruffled her hair, ignoring the squawk of protest. 

“Hey!”

“Your hair isn’t brushed, pigeon. Anyways, Pair up! It’s time for some team bonding!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Rosalie: "Oh my god, Lance! You’re always in the way! Why don't you just leave me alone?!"**  
>  Lance: "What? Why are you yelling at me, Rosalie? I have done nothing to you."  
> Rosalie: "Your existence bothers me"  
> Lance: "If my existence is so annoying, you can make your own food and clean your own mess."  
> Rosalie: "I'm sorry"  
> Lance: "You are my family and that is why I do these things for you, but I don't have to."
> 
> _Lance to Pidge: "I have two families"_
> 
> The video Lance was talking about in the bonding session: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoAj1W8Blyw


	3. A Surprisingly Selfless Idiot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith almost dies in a war that they accidently put themselves into. 
> 
> Galra are assholes and Lance pines way too much to be healthy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so like I have no idea what I'm doing, honestly. I finished this a looooong time ago and had planned to post it when I finished the fourth chapter, but I'm still working on it and it's just sitting there so here you go, my guys.

Lance swung right, doubling back when he missed. He ducked when a leg came flying towards his head. The gladiator was one of his least favorite things in the universe, but it was the only thing close enough to a real fight. He was kind of nervous about it, to be honest, since the castle went haywire way back when they first started and the giant robot attacked Keith. Lance still wouldn’t go near the airlock, not unless he absolutely had to. Lance paused in the fight and shivered. It wasn’t a good memory.

In his moment of distraction, the gladiator rushed him. It pushed against Lance’s stomach with its staff, hard enough to send him flying into the wall. Lance groaned, clutching his stomach as the robot powered down and the floor started lowering it back into the training deck’s storage room. None of them were really sure where it went, but none were so bothered by it to figure it out. 

Lance stayed leaning against the wall, huffing, and puffing in his exhaustion. He’d being going at that damn robot for about two hours. He took breaks in between but that was still a long time to be constantly moving. He’d been hit more times than he could count and was pretty sure he was going to have bruises all over his body. 

Even though he had a bayard, he needed to be able to defend himself or someone else on the team without one. Before, as the blue paladin, Lance hadn’t really felt like that was his job. He probably should have done it anyway and taken some of the stress off of Shiro’s shoulders. 

After about twenty minutes, he stood up again. He glared at the spot where he knew the robot was going to come out from the ground and called a “begin training sequence one, level two!” He got into a fighting stance, forcing his heart to calm down as the robot rose from the ground again. This time, since it was level two, it had a spear. Once it was powered on, he rushed it. It was ready for him, it was supposed to be. In less than a minute it had him on one knee, one wrist twisted uncomfortably behind him, and a spear pressed against his back. It wasn’t sharp. It wasn’t going to cut him. It was just there to make him think. 

Allura chose that moment to walk in. She blinked at him, saying that she wanted to go over battle plans. Then she offered to come back later. He just shook his head. 

Lance rolled forward and tugged his arm towards himself once he was stable. The robot crashed to the ground. Lance crawled on its back, putting all of his weight on it and held both its head and the wrist with the spear in it down on the ground. It thrashed, then powered down. He looked up to Allura, who smiled at him.

“What’s up, princess?” He said, lifting his shirt to wipe away at the sweat. His shirt was already sweaty. He grimaced, making a mental note to wash both his clothes and himself. “And can it wait for me to take a shower?”

“No,” she said. “It’s urgent. Though, you do stink like the belly of a weblum.”

“Thanks, princess,” he said, dryly. “I can always count on you to up my ego. How’d you know I was here, anyway?”

“Keith told me,” she said. Lance blinked at her. Keith hadn’t come onto the training deck, as far as he was aware.

“Keith?”

“Yes. Did you not see him?” She asked, tilting her head in confusion.

“No,” he said, shaking his head. “Anyways, what’d you need?”

“We’ve, uh, we were asked to join a war,” she said, looking awkward. “And I said yes.”

“You’re kidding,” Lance said smiling. He smiled dropped when only silence greeted him. “Dear lord, you’re not kidding.”

\-----  
Lance scrolled up again, back to the top of the badly translated letter and began reading again. He had to make sure. He couldn’t just send them in without knowing what was going on. He wanted to make sure war was actually what Allura had signed them up for. Initially, he’d been irritated that she made a decision without him but the reasons she’d listed for doing so were valid. Enough so that he understood. He probably would have agreed for war as well, not that it mattered anymore. He groaned once he finished the letter for the third time and turned towards his team.

“We’re joining a war,” he said, simply. What other way was there to go about that? He scanned their faces, surprised but pleased at the reaction he got. Pidge was staring at him with absolute trust in her eyes like she would go to war just because he said so. Oh wait, she was going to have to, wasn’t she? Hunk looked just as concerned as he always did, but he didn’t look like he was going to throw up anytime soon so that was nice. Allura had her battle face on. And Keith...Keith just looked plain excited. Lance wasn’t really sure if that was a good thing or not. 

“It’s a war between the inhabitants of a nearby planet and the galra trying to take them over,” Lance said, leaning back in his chair.

“Okay,” Pidge said. “What do we do? Go in guns blazing?”

“Hell no,” Lance said. “That’s almost always a bad plan and every time we do that one of us gets hurt. I’m thinking we just scare the other side off. Simple, right? So how do we do it and what’s our plan B, because I can totally see this going a different way than planned.”

Keith was practically bouncing in place. Lance stared at him for a moment, then smiled and rolled his eyes. Keith was totally the type of person to watch war documentaries. 

“Okay,” Keith said, still bouncing in place. “I got it. We form Voltron and take out the main brigade of a galra military. If the other fleets don’t back off after witnessing the slaughter of the stronger forces, separate to our lions and just go all out. There can’t be that many left afterward, right?” 

“That’s a terrible plan,” Lance said.

“It’s a terrible plan,” Keith agreed. “But what else can we do? This is war. Besides, no one on our side will get hurt.”

Lance considered it for a moment, then shrugged. What else could they do? Besides, they were Voltron! Defenders of the universe!

What could go wrong?

\-----  
A lot, apparently, could go wrong. Plan A already failed so now they were going with plan B and plan B was failing quickly. There were a lot more galra than anticipated. A lot more galra soldiers than were needed to take over a small planet such as the one they were on and they still had yet to see a local. It was an ambush and they fell for it. 

Well, nothing to do about it now. 

Lance pulled the Black lion back, dodging a missile from somewhere off in the distance. He wasn’t sure they were going to win, but they could always run, right? Bullshit. Not the right mindset to be in during a war, Lance. Get your head in the game! Of course, they could win. They would win. No matter what, they would win.

_I don’t know what to do,_ he thought, slicing through at least twenty more galra soldiers with Black’s jaw blade. The area that they were fighting in was covered in blood and dead bodies were scattered everywhere. All galra, all soldiers. It made Lance want to puke.

_This is war,_ a voice whispered, voice sharp like the wind. 

_I know,_ Lance screamed at it, fighting the tears off. _And I have to do it, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it!_

His eyes locked on to Red, who had her back turned to a missile that was coming right for her. Lance growled Keith’s name into the comm, followed by an order to fly red away from the spot she was in. The red lion flew into the air, the missile knocking down part of the fleet that was previously attacking her. 

They could do this. Lance was going to make sure they did it, even if it was the last thing he did. 

\-----  
The war was won, no lives were lost besides the enemies…

And Keith was missing. So was the red lion. That was mildly alarming. Not to mention everyone who _was_ there was injured so it wasn’t like they could go looking for him. The only one there who didn’t have some sort of broken limb was Lance, who only succeeded in getting a sprained ankle. During the war, there was a lot of lions flying into mountains, caves and other large landforms. Lance was lucky it was only a sprain. 

“Okay,” Lance said, standing up from where he was sitting on the edge of Pidge’s bed. Four pairs of eyes turned to him. “I’m going to go look for Keith. I’ll take the black lion’s speeder so it won’t take too long or put much strain on the bruise. Coran, mind being my link?”

“Lance, no,” Pidge said, grabbing his wrist. “You’re just as injured as the rest of us. You can’t go. Not right now.”  
“No, I’m not. The rest of you have some sort of fracture,” he said, gently pulling his wrist out of Pidge’s grip. “All I have is a sprain. And I’ll be taking a speeder. It won’t do me much damage. I won't be gone too long. Afterward, I’ll come back here and pop Keith into a healing pod. I’m not so badly hurt that I can’t go driving.” 

“And we’ll have a connection to him at all times!” Coran said, popping up beside Lance. “So at least we’ll know if he’s in trouble.”

“Don’t worry about me too much, yeah? That’s my job,” he joked, ruffling the green paladin’s hair (again). 

“Who’s worried about you, you--you shitty tranny!” Pidge squawked, slapping his hand away. Lance only laughed in response, limping out the door. He grabbed his jacket on the way out. He might need a little extra space, or maybe Keith would need a cloth to stop any blood, or maybe it was just a little comforting to have something from earth with him.

\-----  
Lance drove for at least twenty minutes in the speeder before he even came across something. What he did come across wasn’t something he had been expecting. It was a metal part, a gear shift of sorts. It looked like the stick they used to control the lions. Lance stared at it for a moment, eyes wide. He got out and stuffed it into his pocket.

Then he resumed his drive, faster than before. 

When he finally did find Keith, he didn’t look like what Lance had been expecting. After finding that gear stick, he half-expected the red lion to be completely out of commission, metal parts, screws and other alien technology scattered everywhere and Keith somewhere in the middle. 

Lance hadn’t been expecting an angry red lion, crouching over her bloody and broken pilot. He gasped, flinging himself out of the speeder as fast as possible. At his approach, the red lion’s eyes glowed and she growled at him. Lance slowed his run to a full stop, hands out and open like he was trying to calm a wild animal. Which, he kind of was. He turned his attention to Keith, who was still just laying there on the ground. His helmet was flung out to the side of him like he’d hit the ground so hard it flew off. 

“Keith!” He called, earning a growl from Red. He ignored her in favor of squinting at Keith, trying to see if he was breathing. 

“You found Keith?” Coran's voice said, right in his ear. He jumped, a surprised noise leaving his mouth. He’d forgotten he was on comm with the others.

“Yes,” he said, looking at Red then turning his eyes back to Keith. “But Red won’t let me near him.”

“Red what?”

_What do you want with my paladin?_ came a voice, fiery hot and vicious. Lance winced, almost wishing he’d brought Black with him. Now he was going to be ambushed by some alien that also happened to be telepathic. 

Wait, hold on, back up for a second. 

Their paladin?

He turned his attention to Red, eyes widening when he realized that it was her speaking to him. He thought that the paladins could only hear _their_ lions thoughts. He could feel Black's amusement at that thought, even from so far away. 

“I just,” Lance started, swallowing. His throat was unbelievably dry. “I just want to help.”

“I know, Lance, we want to help too. What is red doing, exactly?”

_Help? How?_

“I can take him back to the castle!” He called, motioning to the speeder. “I can get him to a healing pod!”

“Who are you talking to, Lance?” 

_Who_ are _you?_

“I’m Black’s paladin! Blue’s previous paladin before Allura!” He called, feeling that fiery hot voice flare in question. 

“We know, Lance!” Coran said, voice edging on annoyed. 

_Why did you not bring her, black paladin?_

“All of the lions need repairs so I took a speeder! I didn’t want her to get even more hurt. That’s not important now. Keith is injured and possibly dying. He needs to get into a healing pod,” he said, voice surprisingly calm. All he wanted to do was get Keith help. That was all. 

“Keith is possibly dying?!” Coran said, sounding surprised. A couple of surprised gasps came from the background and Lance could only assume it was the rest of his team.

He took a cautious step forward, taking another one when the lion didn’t growl at him. When it didn’t try to kill him after that, he started full on sprinting to the red paladin. It hurt his ankle, but it was worth it. He dropped to his knees when he felt he was close enough, sliding the rest of the way. Rocks scraped his knees and made them bleed, but that wasn’t important.

He turned Keith over onto his back, gasping at the damage. How could this much be done to one person? Why did he get out of his lion? There was a deep jagged cut across his chest, 

“One of you jot this down,” he said, scooping Keith up in his arms and trying to arrange him in such a way that wouldn’t hurt him. “A scar across the chest. Black eye. Fractured ankle. Two broken fingers. Three cuts on the left arm, possibly claw marks. Got that?”

“Yes,” came a different voice this time. It sounded like Pidge. “Are you coming back?” 

“Yes. Have a healing pod ready for Keith,” he said, already moving towards the speeder.  
_You are the black paladin, yes?_

“Copy that,” Pidge said, and the comm cut off. He turned towards Red, who was speaking to him again and nodded for his confirmation. 

_Come,_ was all she said before crouching down and opening her jaws. 

“You want me to pilot you?” Lance said, raising an eyebrow in question. “But I’m not your paladin.”

_My paladin is in danger and I am much faster than that small vehicle. The black paladin pilots all._

“Okay,” he said. “Do you have room for the speeder or do we leave it?”

_Load it on, if you must._

Lance thought about it. They had more than one. It was just a plain old speeder, not like it was the black lions personal one or anything. The gear stick was in his pocket. He nodded, adjusting Keith in his arms again. Keith groaned and Lance stared at him, eyes wide in alarm, afraid that he was going to wake up and trash about. Then, when the red paladin made no more movements besides the gentle rise and fall of his breath, Lance walked towards the red lion's open jaws. 

The red lion was small. So small. Then again, there were two in there and it was one of the two tiniest ones. Lance sat on the pilot's seat, Keith in his lap secured only by Lance’s arms. The video chat that was in the lions started up and he looked up, into the confused eyes of his team. He grinned, showing off his teeth. 

“So apparently the black paladin can pilot any lion.”  
\-----  
Lance stared at Keith’s motionless body in the cryotube. He was getting better, Lance was too. The others had already been healed, but Lance refused to go until he knew that everyone was healthy again. He wasn’t too hurt, anyway. Just a sprained ankle and wrist. Nothing too serious. He would live. 

Keith still had two more quintants until he was fully healed. 

\-----  
Lance blinked his eyes open to the sound of a few, high pitched beeps. It took him a moment to recognize the sound of the five dobosh warning that the cryotube gave. He sat up straighter, eyes fixed onto Keith’s almost fully healed body. He was going to be awake when Keith got out, that was for sure. 

He’d let his mind wander. It went to interesting places. _Very_ interesting places. Like romance. Romance with a certain raven on his team and that was not okay. A leader does not pick favorites. Besides, he was probably just relationship-deprived. 

Lance blinked, jumping up to his feet as the cryotube beeped those high pitched beeps again and opened, Keith’s limp body falling out immediately after. Lance caught Keith's weight in his arms and waited. Waited for the red paladin to come to his senses enough for Lance to move him. 

After about a minute or so, Keith looked up at him and squinted, brows furrowing in confusion. 

“Lance?” he asked, voice raspy like he’d been asleep. Yeah, okay, Lance was most definitely not just relationship-deprived. Keith was adorable. Lance knew he was bisexual, had come to terms with it a long while ago, back when he was fifteen. He just kind of...accepted it at this point.

“Hey there, mullet,” Lance replied, grinning. He shuffled the still lead-bodied paladin over to a step and sat him down, taking off his jacket once Keith was settled and throwing it over the red paladin’s shoulders. Keith pulled it around himself tighter, shivering from the remnants of cold from the cryotube. Lance tried to ignore the way his heart skipped a beat. “How you doing, buddy?”

Keith looked at him, boredom etched into his face. “I’m cold,” he said. “I’m tired and I almost died. I’m doing fan-fucking-tastic, Lance.” Lance pushed out his bottom lip, puffing out his cheeks. He just saved his life and didn’t even get a thank you. Of course, he was going to pout. He sat down next to the red paladin and pulled him into his side. He was cold, right? What better heater than body heat?

“Well geez,” Lance said. “You don’t have to be so excited--

“But,” Keith interrupted, looking away. “Thank you. For saving me, I mean.” Lance didn’t know what to say. He’d thought about Keith thanking him, but he hadn’t really expected him to actually thank him. It was more of an ‘it would be nice if’ moment. 

“You got it,” Lance mumbled, then slapped himself. Not actually. But he did want to. 

_You got it_

Who says “you got it” in response to something like that?!

 

“So anyway,” Lance said, coughing into his fist. “Why were you so hurt, anyway?”

“I thought I saw a child,” Keith said, tugging his arms through the sleeves of Lance’s jacket. “So I got out to try and help. There wasn’t anyone there. I’d just been flung into a mountain. Turns out it wasn’t a child.”

“Oh,” Lance said, eyebrows raised to his hairline. “You’re a surprisingly selfless person.”

“It was a galra soldier, who happened to be really short.”

“A surprisingly selfless idiot, I mean.”

They talked for a long while. And by ‘long while’ I mean until the castles artificial time control decided it was time for dawn. They talked even through that until the others started piling into the room one by one. 

Coran was the first. He smiled down at Keith, handing him the equivalent to hot chocolate that the paladins affectionately referred to as space Christmas drink. 

Allura was second. She only smiled at Keith. For her, in her state of constant grief, that was pretty good. She was getting better, but Lance was one-hundred percent positive she wouldn’t be perfectly fine until they found Shiro. 

Then came Pidge. She shuffled into the room, hair wild and unkempt. When she saw Keith was awake, she shuffled over to his side and leaned against him. It made Lance smile.

Finally, came Hunk. He immediately scooped up Keith in one of his famous bone-crushing hugs. Pidge fell to the floor with a surprised squawk when her support was taken away. Keith was set down back to the ground only after his face started to turn blue. Lance laughed the entire time, mirth turning to panic when Hunk turned his devil hugs on him. Lance loved Hunk like a brother, but his hugs almost killed him every single time. 

After that they all sat together and ate, laughing joyfully and picking on each other. Even Allura joined in on the playful banter. 

Lance was pretty sure he was finally going to get a full night's rest after a day like that one.


	4. I've Never Been More Proud Of You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance has always been in Hunk's life, always. He's proven himself as trustworthy and responsible time and time again, sure. But Hunk has _never_ been more proud of his childhood bestie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SURPRISE!!!! This chapter is told from Hunks perspective!!!!
> 
>  
> 
> **FOREWARNING: There are graphic descriptions of anxiety/panic attacks in this chapter. Read at your own risk.**

Lance was Hunk’s best friend, they would live and die for each other. Hunk had known Lance since the second grade when he moved from Hawaii, away from his mother, to Cuba on a foreign exchange program. That move was, by far, one of the hardest times in Hunk’s life for sure, no doubt about it. But the years that followed turned out to be some of the best. 

_”Hi! The names Lance! Lance McClain! I’m your new brother. What’s your name, big guy?”_

_“Hunk..”_

_“Woah! That’s a cool name! You’re from Hawaii, right? Can you swim?”_

_“Yeah.”_

_“Awesome! We’re going to the beach later, do you want to come? I heard the waves are going to be big, so we can surf--you can surf, right?”_

_“Yeah. I used to do it a lot back home.”_

_“Great! You want to come?!”_

_“Sounds...fun…”_

_“You know, you don’t have to come if you don’t want to. We’ll understand if you want to rest. You did just move here, away from everything you know, after all. We can go tomorrow or something, instead.”_

_“Thanks, Lance.”_

_“No problem, my man!”_

Lance’s family was a huge help too, but the one who was always there was Lance. Even when Lance was busy, if Hunk had a desperate problem that needed to be addressed, he would make time. Lance was like the big brother Hunk never had when they were younger. 

Once they got older though, it seemed to stop. Lance wasn’t Hunk’s big brother anymore, and Hunk didn’t often have any desperate situations. Lance was constantly busy, either taking care of his own mental health or his blood siblings health. Hunk helped out around the house a lot, trying to take some of the load off of Lance’s shoulders. Despite his attempts, he knew there was still too much weight for his friend to hold. 

Hunk had respected Lance a lot since they were younger. He respected him as a person, as a leader, as a friend. He was the only one who really watched Lance grow into the person he is. He was the only one who got to see Lance’s highs and Lance’s lows. He watched Lance fall apart and pick himself back up. He’s watched Lance sacrifice himself for other people more times than Hunk could count on both his hands. 

Hunk knew that Lance didn’t often get angry and that when he did he usually had a panic attack right after. Anger had never looked pretty on Lance. It always made him much more fragile and vulnerable than he usually was.

_Hunk looked up from his book as both Lance and his little sister Valerie stomped into the house, screaming at each other in Spanish. Lance had just got back from taking her to swim class and obviously, something went wrong on the way home. Hunk winced at their tones. Even after living with them for so long, he still couldn’t speak Spanish but at the very least he did know some words. And the words bitch, fuck, mom and useless were being thrown around a lot, mostly by Valerie._

_They screamed at each other for a long time, stomping around the house and causing a ruckus. The other two people in the McClain household that weren’t having a screaming match came to join Hunk on the couch, taking comfort by curling into his sides. They looked sad, scared, and a bit worried. Hunk followed the sound of stomping feet with his eyes until there was a slammed door. He flinched, turning his gaze to the floor. The yelling continued for a few moments, followed by someone (probably Lance) banging on the door in frustration._

_Lance stomped out of the hallway and made for his own room, slamming the door behind him. The kids at his sides flinched, squeezing their eyes shut. Hunk chewed on his bottom lip, fiddling with the book in his hands._

_This wasn’t a common occurrence, obviously. The McClain household was usually a very happy and warm home, rather than a moody, cold space where people just so happened to reside. The tension in the air was so thick, you would need a chainsaw just to cut through it._

_Hunk sighed and stood up, setting the book on the desk. He ruffled the two kids hair and made his way to Lance’s room. He had to do something, he couldn’t just leave him to brood by himself. He knocked on Lance’s door, trying not to startle him. There was a crashing sound, someone yelling a curse word in Spanish and then Lance opened the door._

_He looked terrible, bags under his eyes, chest heaving from the exertion that came with throwing furniture around. His dresser was pushed onto its side, bed sheets flung about the room, laundry basket lying on the floor with clothes spilling out, and a cracked mirror behind him. Hunk turned his worried eyes to Lance, grabbing his shoulders gently and pushing him a couple steps back so he could step into Lance’s room. Lance stared at him blankly as Hunk closed the door quietly. He turned the lights low, pushing Lance to sit on his bed and avoiding the things on the floor carefully. They sat together in silence for a long while before anything significant actually happened._

_It started as a whine, fully transitioning to whale-sized tears streaming down Lance’s face like a waterfall. His chest heaved again, this time from something much worse than a little exertion. His breath came in gasps as he curled up on his bed and groped the mattress for a holding. He continued to gasp for air, tugging his shirt off less than a moment later._

_“Hot,” he choked out, eyes wide and unfocused. He was shaking badly. Hunk got up and grabbed Lance’s shoulders, turning him to look at him. Lance wouldn’t focus, not on him. Not on anything._

_“Breathe, Lance,” Hunk said, shaky with nerves. He’s never seen Lance like this, but he had done this with Lance more times than he could count. Lance made a choked noise, reaching out for Hunk. He took his hand, still gasping for air._

_He didn’t calm down for a long while._

It was startling to see Lance in such a state of anger after the Xeaxus IV mission. Hunk had wanted to hide him away like he’d done so many times before, but Lance had been on a mission. While Lance had taken care of his business, Hunk baked. Once the pastry was done, Lance came and joined him. He hadn’t looked like he normally did after a panic attack, so he’d assumed his friend was fine.

It was even more concerning when Lance got angry at Pidge. It's been a long time coming, sure, but it was still worrying. Lance and his siblings treated each other with respect, something all of them had earned with each other through various hardships. It was strange to see someone they all considered a little sister treat Lance so disrespectfully. He’d even brought it up with her, once, but it hadn’t gone the way he’d hoped.

Obviously, Hunk had known about Lance’s feelings for Keith even before Lance did, so it wasn’t surprising when he put Keith’s health over his own. It was surprising, however, when he stayed up all night, gave him his jacket, and carried him everywhere even after he was out of the healing pod. Granted, Keith only humored him for a day, but Hunk had no doubts that Lance would have done it for at least the next two months. 

Lance had done a lot of things to get Hunks respect. He’d done a lot of things that made Hunk stop and consider what he’d had to say. Before anyone else, Hunk had been positive that Lance was going to be the new black paladin. Before anyone else, Hunk was proud of his friend. Before anyone else, Hunk was readily able to call Lance his leader. Before anyone else, Hunk saw something in Lance that no one else did. He saw potential, he saw skill, he saw stability and rationality. Lance was a drama queen, no doubt, but he was so much more than the dumb facade he put on for show when he was upset somehow. Lance’s role was the amazing older brother, even in space, millions of lightyears away from the beach in Cuba where they grew up together. 

\-----Before “Actions Speak Louder Than Words.”-----

Hunk stepped into Lance’s room, being careful not to drop the tray with milk and something akin to cookies on it. He looked up from the tray and frowned. Lance was pacing. Again. It was the third time this week, and it was only Tuesday. Lance paused in his pacing to flash him a small, tired smile before continuing to drill a hole into the ground. Hunk placed the tray onto the desk in Lance’s room and gently grabbed him by the shoulders. He sat Lance down on the bed and gave him _the look_. Lance sat down without complaint, crossing his legs and tapping his chin with his forefinger, squinting into the distance.

“Hey Hunk,” Lance said, turning his gaze to his friend. “How do you think I can earn the team’s trust?”

“Well,” he said in response, “you can start by spending time with us.”

Lance shook his head, frown set in place. 

“That’s something I already do.”

“Even Keith?”

“Even Keith. We hang out in the red lion’s hangar a lot. He likes pep-talks.”

“Pidge? Coran? Allura?”

“Pidge likes company while she works on her gadgets. If I’m free, I go down and sit with her. We talk sometimes but it’s mostly just enjoying the others’ presence. Coran and I trade stories a night after everyone is asleep. I could probably tell you his entire life story backward. Allura and I do beauty treatments every other night. Basically, girls night. Except I’m a guy.”

\----- After “Sit Down and Shut Your Mouth.”-----

Hunk looked up to Lance, who had just hopped onto the counter next to him and offered a smile. Lance was grinning from ear to ear, shoulders loose. He was obviously happy, which meant something good had just happened. Hunk could think of a few things that it might have been. Plus, he was sitting next to Keith.

“So,” Lance said. “Pidge is going to start showing up to team bonding exercises.”

“How’d you pull that one off?” Keith asked, arms crossed in a relaxed way. 

“I gave her a stern talking to,” Lance chirped, still grinning. “And used the ‘mom voice’ on her.”

Hunk, surprised, stopped what he was doing to stare at Lance, slightly horrified. The last time Lance had used ‘the mom voice’ was three years ago, to Rosalie when she broke abuelita's favorite porcelain doll. She’d cried on and off for the rest of the day and wouldn’t talk to anyone for the next three after that. Even though Hunk was staring at Lance like he’d grown another head, Keith scoffed, unimpressed. 

“A stern talking to?” He said, lifting a brow in surprise. “That’s all?” Lance shrugged and jumped off the counter. 

“If you’ll excuse me, gentlemen, I’ve got to train.”

“Didn’t you just train for two hours?” Hunk asked, blinking owlishly at Lance, who grinned.

“There’s no such thing as too much practice!” He chirped happily, slipping out of the kitchen and out of sight. Keith turned to Hunk, a puzzled expression on his face. Hunk only smiled and shrugged. 

\----- During “A Surprisingly Selfless Idiot”-----

Hunk wrung his wrists, staring at Lance with a worried expression. He had been sitting there unmoving, unblinkingly watching Keith in the cryo pod. Hunk had tried to persuade him into getting something to eat, maybe taking a nap, but he’d refused to even turn his eyes away. 

“He’s important,” Lance had said. “To the team, to you, to me, to Shiro. Especially Shiro. I’m not going to be the reason Keith doesn’t make it.”

“He’s in a cryo pod, Lance,” Hunk argued, gesturing to the red paladin. Lance didn’t move his eyes. He only took a deep breath, held it for a moment, then released it.

“Machines malfunction,” he insisted, furrowing his brows. “No matter what you say, I’m not moving until all of my team is completely healthy. You, Pidge, Coran, and Allura are all fine. You’ve spent your time in the cryo pod. Keith is still in there. I have to make sure he’s okay. I’d do the same for you or Pidge, Hunk.”

Hunk smiled and walked out. 

\-----Now-----

Lance gasped for air, hands limp on the yellow paladin’s chest. Hunk frowned, continuing to rub circles into Lance’s back, something he’d discovered that helped. It's been awhile since Lance had a panic attack. Hunk had figured he could either handle them on his own now or that he simply didn’t get them anymore. He shouldn’t have assumed.

“Useless, useless, useless,” Lance croaked out, over and over. “Bad, bad, bad.”

It brought tears to Hunk’s eyes. It wasn’t often that Lance’s panic attacks were centered around anxiety or self-hatred, though the current black paladin was positively filled to the brim with it, it was usually something related to anger he couldn’t control. When it was centered around anxiety, Hunk made sure to wait until Lance was sober again to start telling him how great he was, though he did say some generic stuff during the attack to help Lance pull himself out. 

“Selfish, selfish, selfish,” Lance sobbed, gasping out every word. “Thoughtless, thoughtless, thoughtless.”

Hunk hugged Lance tight against his body, trying his hardest not to cry. It wouldn’t do either of them good to start bawling. Lance laid limp against him, the only moving parts of his body being his rapidly rising and falling chest and his mouth, forming so many lies Hunk could barely keep up. Lance was covered in sweat, his shirt was thrown somewhere in the room because it was ‘hot’ again even though it was the same temperature it always was. He wouldn’t focus, he couldn’t hear anyone but himself.

“Weak,” Lance whispered, eyes closing, finally. “Terrible.” 

Hunk rocked them back and forth, trying to comfort himself as much as he was trying to comfort Lance. He prayed to whatever gods were out there that no one attacked them until tomorrow. Lance, after a panic attack, usually was out of commission until he went to sleep. He wouldn’t be sleeping for a long while, Hunk knew. 

After a couple minutes of just rocking in the complete silence, Lance pulled away weakly and grinned. Taking that as a symptom of soberness, Hunk moved his hands to squeeze Lance’s shoulders gently. Lance’s eyes dulled. He knew the routine enough to know what was coming.

“You’re not useless,” Hunk choked out, shaking his head. “You’re the least useless person I know. You do _so much_ for us. So, _so much_.”

Lance shook his head, protesting, but Hunk continued.

“I know you stay up late, training so that if it ever comes to it you can protect us without a bayard. I know you carry Pidge off to bed most nights. I know you talk to Coran when he’s feeling homesick for Altea, even if you yourself aren’t doing too well. I know you come and hang out with me in the kitchen even if you kind of hate cooking because you don’t want me to feel alone. I know you make sure Allura is keeping her health in check and isn’t too busy looking for Shiro that she forgets herself.

“I know you spend as much time with Black as possible, trying to forge a bond stronger than Shiro’s because you think you’ll never live up to him. But you do. You do, you live up to him. Sometimes, I think you even surpass him.”

Lance let out a small gasp, and a single tear dripped down his cheek and landed on his ankle.

“I know you spend hours in Keith’s room, helping him learn how to cope with Shiro being missing. I know you have feelings for him, and I can’t imagine what it’s like to be around someone you care for so much and not being able to tell them at all. I know you won’t tell him because you’re afraid it’ll mess up our team’s bond. I know you’re scared to form Voltron because you think it’s like saying that we can do this without Shiro. I know that you forget yourself more than you should, instead focusing on the rest of us. I know you’re absurdly skinny because you forget to eat and _that’s_ the _only_ terrible thing about you. I wish you would think of yourself more.”

Lance offered a weak smile that never reached his eyes. He leaned against Hunk again, taking comfort from the heat that emitted from him. His chest rose and fell in slow movements, and his limbs were like wet noodles. His laugh was bitter like he didn’t believe anything Hunk was saying.

“What did I ever do to deserve a friend like you, buddy?” he asked, voice hoarse. 

“You’ve done so much for me,” hunk choked out, finding that he failed to keep the tears at bay. He shoved his face into Lance’s hair and continued speaking. “You’ve done so much for everyone you’ve ever met, even people that have hurt you and there’s been a lot of them. Even then you still trust so easily, I don’t understand it. I’m so proud to call you my friend, so proud to call you my leader.”

Lance was crying again too. 

“I’ve always been proud of you,” Hunk mumbled, laughing quietly. “From the moment we met, to third grade when you fell off your scooter, to sixth grade when you came out to me as bisexual, to watching you struggle just to get into the garrison and then actually getting in. I was even proud of you when you got us stranded on an alien planet with a giant blue mechanical cat.”

He felt Lance’s shoulders shake. If it was a laugh or the force of his tears, he wasn’t sure. Maybe both.

“I’m even more proud of how well your handling Shiro being missing, even though I _know_ you miss him just as much as the rest of us. I’ve never been _so proud_. I wish I could give you more, but I have nothing left to offer you.”  
\-----

Lance turned around in his chair, facing the rest of us, and stood up. Hunk shuffled his feet, swallowing down the rise of nervousness in his throat. If anyone could get them out of this alive, it was Lance. 

“Look alive, team!” Lance called, gaining everyone’s immediate attention. Pidge looked up from her computer, Allura turned away from Coran mid-speech, and Keith opened his eyes and sat up straighter. Hunk’s lips twitched in a smile. Somehow, along the way, he’d gained their respect. It seemed like just yesterday that Shiro disappeared and Lance became the black paladin.

“Alright, I have a plan down for this mission, but I want your input.”

“What?” Keith asked, squinting at him. “Just give us orders. That’s what Shiro always did.”

“Yeah, but all decisions should be made together, in my opinion. We’re a team. There shouldn’t be _any_ mission we go into where someone feels uncomfortable with their role. Hunk, I know you don’t like fighting but it has to be done, so sorry I can’t help you there.” Hunk replied, saying it was alright, arms crossed comfortably. 

Yeah, if anyone could get them out of this alive, it was Lance.


	5. Losing One Is Hard Enough, Lance.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance and Coran sit down and have a talk about Coran's family, then Lance is presented with a question.
> 
> "I wouldn't doubt you wouldn't do the same. Life or death, Lance, what would you choose?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lance and Coran have father+son bonding moments. :,)
> 
> This one is shorter than normal, sorry! D:

Lance laughed, legs stretched out in front of him, shoulders loose and relaxed. Coran was smiling, bustling around the room and doing various things. He and Lance had been sitting together again, swapping stories. If he was being honest, Lance loved Coran’s stories and the expressiveness that came from him. He loved that Coran would sometimes stop what he was doing to act out a part that was difficult to describe. 

“Coran,” Lance said, suddenly, giving a melancholy smile. “What’s your family like?” The altean turned to him with a confused face, pausing in his movements. He reached up and twisted his mustache, eyes far off in some other land. Lance sighed. Coran did this occasionally, going off into lala land. It came with grief, grief Lance knew all too well.

“Well,” Coran said, setting down the rag he had been using to dust and walking over to take a seat next to Lance. “Before all of this, I actually had quite a big family.” Lance’s eyebrows raised in surprise. He wasn’t really sure why, but he’d always assumed Coran was an only child of sorts.

“Tell me about all of them?” Lance requested, offering his best imitation of puppy dog eyes. He told Coran about _his_ family more times than he could count, and each time he listened avidly as Lance recalled each of his thirteen cousins, four sisters, three brothers, four uncles, two aunts, his two grandmothers, his two grandfathers, his six nephews and two nieces. Needless to say, it was high time he repaid the favor.

“I am one of the few Alteans who actually had two biological mothers,” Coran said, straightening his tunic with a proud smile. Lance’s mouth twitched into a smile. “Alteans are able to birth even with two of the same sex,” Coran informed. 

“Tell me about them,” Lance said, excitement in his voice. 

“My mom’s name was Gesa. My mama’s name was Olesia. They were two of the most amazing women I’ve ever met. Some of the best cooks, too,” Coran said, eyes somewhere far in the distance. “They died in the first battle against Zarkon. They were on the front lines. Mama was a soldier, mom was not. I remember saying goodbye to them that day. They looked just as fiery as they always did, just as fiercely loyal too. They trusted easily and loved hard. They said it made them stronger. After them, I had my brother. Prepare yourself for this one: King Alfor.”

Lance sucked in a breath. “You’re kidding,” he whispered, awe in his voice. “Your brother is king Alfor? So you really _are_ Allura’s uncle!” Coran laughed, tone light and cheery. 

“Yes, yes,” he said. “Alfor was my little brother. He was stronger than me, smarter too. The only thing he lacked in that I excelled in was common sense. He would make the most ridiculous decisions as a child. There was one time he got his hand stuck in a plant because he heard it was a meat-eater, despite being commonly known as a plant that made its own food rather than getting it from a kill, and he wanted to see if it would eat his hand.”

Lance snorted. Coran continued, an easy smile on his face.

“Then there was my wife,” Coran sighed, eyes warm. Lance could practically feel him melting, just at the thought of her. “My beautiful wife Felicity. She was the most beautiful woman in all of Altea. At least, that’s what I think. I can still see her face so clearly. She was kind and warm, yet still somehow so fierce and dangerous. We met in ‘Nuttlet Bar’, something that was just like your earth bars. It served alcoholic drinks and played loud music. I was a bartender, she was the customer. I can picture it as if it were yesterday.” 

_”how do you do, miss?”_

_“Can I get a shot of tavlor, on the rocks?”_

_“You got it. If you don't mind me asking, what's a girl like you doing in a place like this?”_

Coran’s sweet smile turned melancholy, and a bit bitter.

“Then there was our son, Dalva. He was brave and smart, though he often tried to cover that up with dumb, yet also endearing, jokes. Somehow he always knew when it was time to joke and when it was time to be serious. You remind me of him, sometimes.”

Lance gasped, frozen on the spot. Coran has talked about Dalva only a few times before on their regular homesick talks. Each time, it was a story of bravery, courage, and dreams to die like a martyr. How was Lance anything like him? Anything like a born warrior? It was even more amazing to learn that Dalva was Coran’s son. He didn’t mention it before.

“He loved his family,” Coran continued, ignoring the shocked look on Lance’s face. “He died for us. He lived for us. I don’t doubt you would do the same for us, somehow, if given the option. Life or death, Lance, what would you choose?”

Lance hummed, taking the question seriously. It was a good question. If posed with only two options, some terrible alternative, and self-sacrificial death, which would he choose? He wasn’t sure. There were plenty of pros and cons for both sides, sure, he could probably make a logical decision based on them. But that wasn’t the point of the question. In a real situation, he probably wouldn’t have time to sort through the pros and cons. Death. He would probably choose death. What better way to die, than in the heat of battle?

Man, he kind of was a martyr, wasn’t he? 

“I don’t know,” he answered, finally, realizing Coran had been waiting for an answer. He still wasn’t sure. Instinct said death, logic said the terrible alternative. Coran chuckled as if he could hear Lance’s thoughts, clapped him on the shoulder, and stood up. Lance’s eyes followed the movement, thoughts whirling. Coran smiled, the blue little triangles on his cheeks glowing. Lance gasped, softly. He’d never seen them do that before, but he’d read somewhere in one of the books in the library that they only did that when feeling a deep remorse. It could be controlled though and was typically only allowed to do so around people the Altean's considered family. Coran ruffled his hair and said a brief, chirpy goodbye. Lance’s voice didn’t catch up with him until Coran was already gone, the door shutting behind him. 

\-----  
Coran grit his teeth, hands on the monitor twitching. He stumbled as the ship shuddered under the force of the galra ion cannon, but regained his balance quickly. There were much more glara fighter ships than originally thought, and the castle still didn’t have its full energy. The galra had seemed to come from out of nowhere. Not even the ship could pick up the point of arrival. His fingers tapped against the holographic keyboard deftly, altean keys showing up on the screen in front of him. A few seconds after pressing the enter key, the castle was firing at the main ship, carving a pathway in the sea of galra fighter ships for Voltron.

“Paladins!” Allura’s voice called from behind him, trembling. She had used a lot of energy. Coran cast a slightly guilty, mostly worried, glance behind him to her. She caught his eyes and sighed, quietly. “We need your assistance!”

“We’re kind of stuck right now,” Keith’s voice said over the comm.

“We’ll come as soon as we’re able,” Lance said, grunting afterward. The ship shuddered again. Coran bit his lip, feeling the first tinges of fear grip his heart again. He frowned. There was no time to waste here. “Pidge, go left! Left! Hunk, there’s a ship to your right! Keep your eyes open, people!”

“Shut up, Lance! You’re not helping!” Keith snapped, a strangled noise leaving his throat as he was shot by one of the galra ships. Lance groaned.

“Yeah, you’re right, sorry!” he said. Coran blinked, hands pausing a moment before resuming what they were doing. It wasn’t often a black paladin apologized for their actions. But then again, Lance was much different from the previous black paladins. He was less conceited. It was a good thing, most of the time.

“Paladins! I'm afraid we’ll need to withdraw from this one! Return to the castle!” Allura called, stumbling with the rocking ship. 

“Are you sure?” Lance asked, sounding apprehensive. 

“Positive! Return to the castle!” 

“I'm afraid the princess is right on this one, paladins. The castle can't hold out for much longer and there are too many of them!” Coran said, adding on to the princess’ statement. 

“Alright,” Lance said, then he tsked. “Get back to the castle. I’ll provide cover fire just long enough for everyone to get to safety.”

“Lance you can’t be--”

“Back to the castle, Kogane. Go, go!”

One by one the lions returned to the castle, all gathering in the hangar with blue, except Black. Black stayed out, firing at enemy ships and keeping close as Allura guided the castle away and through a wormhole. He went behind the castle as the wormhole opened, and they lost sight of the Black Paladin.

Wormhole jumps usually didn’t last too long, maybe a minute or so, but this one felt longer. The paladin’s gathered in the control room, looking beaten and tired. Coran sighed, then turned to the comm.

“Lance, you can return to the castle now,” he chirped, happy that the battle was finally over. 

There was no response.

The reaction from the rest of the team was immediate. Panic, confusion, and anger. The panic and confusion from Hunk, Pidge, and Allura. The anger from Keith, who was currently glaring at the ground, tears in his eyes. Coran walked over and gently put a hand on his shoulder, support. Lance had, in truth, always been his favorite, so he understood Keith’s grief. The red paladin slapped his hand away and growled.

“He sacrificed himself,” he ground out, hiccuping. “Like a fucking idiot.”

Coran froze. When he’d asked Lance earlier about whether or not he’d sacrifice his life for theirs, he didn’t think he’d actually do it. He didn’t think the time would come so soon. This was the Last Battle of Altea all over again. He’d just lost the last little bit of his son that he’d had left. 

There was a mixed reaction to Keith’s statement, then a gasp from everyone in the room. It got loud, filled to the brim with yells of horror and denial. 

“I can't lose more family!” Pidge yelled, tears in her eyes.

“I just lost my best friend!” Hunk yelled in despair, covering his eyes.

Allura just sat down, head in her hands and whispered, “I lost another one..”

Coran sighed and gathered them all close, wrapping his arms around them. He forced back his own tears, focusing instead on comforting the others. He rubbed their backs, mumbling words of comfort. What else could he do? Allura pressed into his side, clinging to his shirt tightly. It reminded him of when she would cry as a child. She would always come running to him to fix it since Alfor was never good with crying children. He was a loving father, but at a loss in the comforting department. Coran just pet her hair down, sighing sadly. 

After a couple minutes, they all separated. Their eyes were dull, lifeless. None of them knew what to do at that point. They just stood close to each other, staring off into nothing. It wasn’t a surprising response. 

“Damn, they almost got me,” a voice said, from the doorway. Their heads snapped up, eyes were greeted by a sight of Lance, with blood running down his face and a wide grin. There was a collective gasp, then a sigh of relief. Keith was the first to move. He sprinted, tackling Lance to the floor in a hug. Lance laughed, then hugged Keith back tightly. Everyone else jumped on top of them, smushing them and smothering Lance in hugs. Coran stood to the side, quietly wiping his tears away, a soft smile on his face.

\-----

After Keith, Coran was the first to greet Lance once he was out of the cryo pod. He handed the boy a warm drink and wrapped a blanket around him. Lance smiled a bit at him, then leaned into Keith and shivered. He looked tired, worn out. There was a new scar on his side. It was wide and long, white skin replacing the usual caramel. He didn’t say much at first. No, he waited until everyone else was done with Lance to speak to him.

Keith had been the first to greet Lance, as previously stated. He’d practically tackled Lance in a hug, whimpering. They’d hugged, then awkwardly pulled back and smiled. Keith had said a few things, then punched him in the shoulder, telling him to never do that again. Lance agreed with a small chuckle.

The next one to greet Lance had been the princess, who’d expressed her great gratitude that he wasn’t dead. Lance had chuckled and pulled her into a side hug, making a joke about her hitting on him, to which the princess just laughed and pushed him away. Recently, they’d been acting more like friends who tease each other. It was refreshing, to say the least.

The next one was Hunk, who’d hugged Lance for a good hour. He’d cried ugly into Lance’s neck, who’d just rubbed his friends back and mumbled comforting words. Later, once they’d pulled out of the hug, Lance made a joke and Hunk laughed through his tears. That was a sweet moment to witness. 

The last one to greet Lance was a hesitant Pidge, looking guilty for something.  
She’d apologized to Lance for not being where she should have been, saying that if she had been maybe he wouldn’t have had been forced to cover for them like that. He’d laughed and pulled her into a hug, calling her a gremlin and ruffling her hair. They’ve been acting more like siblings now again, which was pleasing to see. 

Coran pulled Lance aside, once everyone had gotten their chance to speak to him, and immediately pulled him into a hug. Lance was a little surprised, and it took him a few moments to hug back. Coran sniffled, hugging Lance tightly.

“I almost lost a son again,” he said, closing his eyes as a tear slipped out. Lance let out a small, sad noise, and hugged him tighter. There was a small moment of silence between them, just standing there and hugging tightly. Lance really did remind Coran of his son, it was almost freaky. They looked similar, too, if he was being honest. All Lance lacked of Dalva was the white hair, the pointy ears and the blue emotion marks on his cheeks. 

A few moments later they pulled away, smiles on their faces. Coran ruffled Lance’s hair, to which Lance squawked and slapped his hand away. They laughed a bit, then parted ways. 

After that, Lance didn’t offer his life up so quickly. Coran was immensely grateful for this.


End file.
